Update: There seems to be a bit of confusion as quite a few of you have emailed in stating that the $99.99 price is showing up in your upgrade. However, some of you are also reporting the upgrade price to be $189.99. We’ll try to get to the bottom of this ASAP!

That’s right, Android fans. Today is March 17th, otherwise known as Cliq XT arrival day. Unfortunately, though, the news isn’t all sunshine and rainbows as we should have stuck with our gut and believed in the $129.99 price point. As it turns out, the news we received on the 15th was inaccurate and the documents we received originally were right all along. Sigh.

Oh well, for $129.99 you’re still getting a hell of a deal with the Cliq XT and reviews so far have been mostly positive. A major downside is Android 1.5. However, we’re sure Motorola and Google aren’t going to let the Cliq XT sit at 1.5 forever. Expect to see an update down the road sure to breathe new life into an already feature-rich Android device.

About David Beren

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

I played around with it very little after play with the HD2 at my local T-Mo store. I wasn’t impressed.

andrew

how wasn’t impressed.

Duck Dodgers

It seemed laggy.

http://twitter.com/tuckerlikemagic tuckerlikemagic

gonna have to call BS friend. the few tmo stores that have the hd2 it aren’t allowed to even get it out of the box yet, and no phone is worth risking a lost job.

Duck Dodgers

I really don’t care what you think. My local store here in the Seattle area had both the HD2 and the Cliq XT. He let me play the HD2 for 30 min or so. I asked if they had the XT in and he pulled it out of the drawer and let me play with for a min or so. I felt the screen was a little laggy and I didn’t care for the buttons at the bottom of the unit. I didn’t do much other then look at the desk top and punch a few buttons since I was there for the HD2 and didn’t care for the feel of it.

Davidohio

When I worked at t-mobile guys like you (Dick Dodger) used to annoy the crap out of me. You go into the store for the sole purpose of wanting to play with a device that has not launched yet and waste everyones time asking a bunch of questions you know the answers to already just to see if we know, and we are really busy taking care of customers who are there to take care of real business. You probably dropped it too. You are annoying because you can’t wait until it launches. My friend who is a manager also told me they got a memo that the HD2 is not to be on the sales floor at all until launh, including the demo, so the person at your store was not allowed to do what he did and it is not worth a job just to make you happy. You probably whined and whined until they just brought it out just to shut you up. Let me guess, you were waiting at the door for them to open? I’m sure you will go back again later today or tomorrow to play with it again right? Annoying.

Duck Dodgers

Sorry Davidohio, but you obvious don’t know me. I did not go in and “whine” until I got to see it. I simply went in last Thursday during the day (I did not wait at the door BTW) when it was not busy and asked if they had the HD2 demo in yet and if I could see it. If he would of say yes (or even no), but he couldn’t let me see I would of left it at that. I’m going to put the CS Rep. in a position of losing his or her job just to show me a phone. I asked him questions about the phone and ask if I could be placed on a list to call me when the phone came in. The other thing you’re wrong about is I’m neither going back tonight nor another night to look at it. I have already seen it and made my mind up. When it is available on Wednesday I’m going back to the store and purchase the phone from him since he was nice enough to chat with me and answer some questions I had.

BTW I glad you’re not with T-Mobile anymore with that kind of an attitude.

nutzareus

I just came home from corporate T-Mobile store and I personally handled both the Cliq XT and HD2. Real phones, not plastic dummy models.

andrew

this phone wish tmobile have motorola phone with hdmi port

flfny

I wasn’t excited about this phone in the first place… but hearing it’s only at v1.5 is unacceptable. It indicates that there’s probably a lack of power|memory (I haven’t paid attention to the exact specs I admit). I understand that Moto — along with other handset manufacturers — might want to differentiate their handsets but keeping a phone at 1.5 when 2.1 is out is ridiculous. It’s like if Dell sold a computer with Windows 95. WTF?

lensovet

um, hello, Moto has said that they will be releasing 2.1 updates for pretty much all of their phones that are on T-Mo right now.
the reason this is coming out with 1.5 is because of Motoblur, which hasn’t been updated yet for 2.1. they’d rather release the phone now and push an OTA update later than hold it back until they can put 2.1 on it.

Davidohio

Motorola confirmed that their android phones will be upgraded to 2.1 soon. You can read that on several blogs and moto’s own website so….yeah, your post was kinda pointless.

http://twitter.com/santi_sicko sabercrombiedude

Bleh.

ingram1225

I was only offered the $189 version to upgrade my current 1 year old contract to the new 2 year old contract…. oh well…. wish me luck

mira

The HD2 is stopping me! Hehehe

NeedanewPhone

I like this phone & I’m gonna get it 2day!!!! (When da store opens) I need a new phone like 2months ago, Don’t get me wrong like da HD2 but I H8 Windows Mobile that’s y I’m not getn it. But I’m excited about this 1, can’t wait 2 get it l8r!!!!!

Chad D

Am I missing something, or are there any benefits of this unit over the Behold 2?

NeedanewPhone

Motoblur

Ravenous

and flash lite and pinch to zoom and an FM radio

Davidohio

Um, yeah. Read the specs on both again. Many more things including motoblur!

God

also the remote likelihood this will get Android 2.x. Samsung has made it extremely clear that they will never release an upgrade for the Behold 2

DotNetCoderAZ

And for good reason… Sammy’s Behold II is worth more melted down than it is an actual phone. Had a friend buy his and return it the next day… local TMO rep told me that he has had lots of them coming back in. Kind of sad in a way, but Sammy has never been good with other operating systems except their own (and even then, it’s sketchy).

Kyle

I think tmobile is doing something with 3G in my area right now cause i live in SF bay area and it says i have 4 bars of 3g but only the up arrow lights up i tried switching to edge only and everything works perfectly, but 3g is totally dead

jaron

I have the cliq. And if I was to have to choose between the two I would choose the cliq they both have 1.5 the cliq xt just has multi touch and flash lite and a couple of other extra features. The cliq has a full qwerty keyboard thats. Not the best but preety darn good, and also it might (and I hope) get an update that includes the features that are on the cliq xt likme multi touch and swype. So I would get the cliq, but I could understand if yhu want a smaller, thinner, lightweight phone. But ill tell yhu now the on-screen is nothing compared to should I say the ipohne . It really goes by your personal preference.

And this surprises you? We (U.S.) always get screwed when it comes to the latest and greatest in mobile devices. Look at how long Europe has had the HD2! Ugh, makes me sick and tired of having a technology addiction. ;-)

Derrick

David,
That 99.99 price is what my-tmobile is offering it to me for as an upgrade with 2 yr extension. I don’t think I’m the only one so maybe the intel you received was right about the price but was wrong about who it was for. Personally I’m still not interested, I will be handing the iphone over to my girlfriend whilst I pick up 4.3 inches of entertainment packed deliciousness on the 24th!!!!!!

sfolsom

Are you currently under contract now? I am 13 months into my 2-year contract, and while the T-mobile website says you’re eligible for the full discount after 1 year, maybe it’s not so in this case because my upgrade price is $189.99.

Derrick

My original contract ended on march 13th, but I signed a one year extension that ends in June. I am eligible for the full upgrade discount though as it has been more than 22 months since my last phone upgrade. If I’m not mistaken it is 11 months on a 1 year contract and 22 months on a 2 year contract before you’re eligible for the full discount.

sfolsom

By the way, I’m waiting until the 24th to get the HD2 as well, but I’m now worried that I’ll have to pay more than the $199 for the upgrade.

sfolsom

I copied and pasted from T-mo website:

How do I qualify for an upgrade?
There are three levels of upgrade discounts available to you. You start qualifying for upgrade discounts after your first month. The three levels of upgrades and the requirements are as follows:
Early Upgrade (Good)
You must be on a 2-year contract and meet both of these requirements:
1-11 months since your last upgrade
1-11 months on a qualifying rate plan*

Early Upgrade Plus (Better)
You must be on a 2-year contract and meet both of these requirements:
12 months since your last upgrade
12 months on a qualifying rate plan*

NOTE: Smartphones qualify for full discount at this level.

Upgrade (Best)
You must be on a 2-year contract and meet both of these requirements:
22 months since your last upgrade
22 months on a qualifying rate plan*
If you are on a 1-year contract, you must meet both of these requirements:
11 months since your last upgrade
11 months on a qualifying rate plan*

NOTE: To qualify, your rate plan must be:
$29.99 or greater for a single line
$49.99 or greater for a shared family plan
___________________________________________________________________

Note where it says smartphones qualify for the full discount at this level. But, I just called T-mo and a sales rep says I have to have it for 15 months to qualify for the full discount. So, I don’t know what’s going on.

Derrick

That sucks dude. I would keep calling to find out where the 15 months came into play and maybe talk to a manager. I don’t know if regular employees have the power to override that, but sometimes you just have to keep calling till you find a rep that will help you out. I still don’t get where the 15 months came from.

robert

i’m showing $99 for an upgrade too. Sometimes all of this bad in really makes me wonder about what we read on there sites!

Frank

If you had to decide between a Behold II and a Cliq XT, which would you choose? Both have resource sucking interfaces (cube/motoblur), both are behind on android and both are supposed to be updated to 2.1. I hear the screen on the Samsung is superior, but I can’t decide which to pick or if I should wait. Also, behold II is $50 more (w/o contract). Though for some reason new customers pay 309 and existing customers 379 (behold II). What a mess.

HungryJoe

I was offered Cliq XT for $99 probably because I finished a 2 year contract a few months ago. Not good enough though.

It makes me sick that I watch the gadget blogs and see amazing phones and what do I have to look forward to on T-Mobile USA? Wondering if I should give in and get an underpowered MyTouch3G or Cliq. Wondering if I should get an HD2 which would basically be like having an HTC Sense phone since WinMo 6.5 is an evolutionary dead end.

Waiting for the HTC Legend and Desire to be released on every carrier except T-Mobile. The best TMO people can get is an expensive Nexus One that loses 3G if you hold it by the bottom. Which you are advised not carry in your pants pocket. Ridiculous.

Davidohio

Ridiculous. You should go to Verizon. Yeah, Verizon.

DotNetCoderAZ

“Wondering if I should get an HD2 which would basically be like having an HTC Sense phone since WinMo 6.5 is an evolutionary dead end.”

Statements like this are ridiculous. MSFT has confirmed support and updates for WinMo 6.5 for the foreseeable future. Where do these people seem to think that WinMo 6.5 is a dead end?!

john

Looks like time is a factor. I’m on a family plan and one of my line qualifies for the best upgrade and the phone is offered at 99. The other line is about 14 months into the contract and is offered at 189.

John

Eligible for a full upgrade. My T mobile shows phone for 189.99.

Moro77

17 months since my last upgrade. Just talked to customer care, and they told me that the 189.99 is my upgrade price with a full discount and that 129.99 is for new activations only. Couldn’t give me any details on the HD2 upgrade scheme. This really sucks.

sfolsom

I’ve noticed something on the T-mo website. It says you qualify for a smartphone upgrade after 12 months into your 2-year contract, right? Well, when you narrow your shopping to “smartphones”, it doesn’t list the Cliq XT. Maybe they haven’t categorized it properly in their system.

Moro77

You are correct…I’m finding the same thing. Hopefully this is a fixable mistake, and hopefully they don’t do it with the HD2! Maybe someone can talk to the powers that be at T-Mobile?

Jonathan

My local store had both the Nuron, CLIQ XT, and HD2. (All of which I played with…)

And that’s here in Houston, TX.

Gr8ful1

I just checked my upgrade it states that its $189.99 for both my lines. One has been out of contract since Nov. The other line just a week ago. Makes me wonder will the HD2 actually be the price stated or higher, if so its on to the next. This is getting ridiculous.

HXSILVA

Yeah if you click the “smartphone” key it takes off the Cliq XT so maybe Tmobile has incorrectly classified this phone as a non-smartphone. That probably would affect the pricing because 18 months in and it shows 189.00

SEFan

Still pretty thick for not having an actual keyboard. Screen is small for the size of the device. Snappier than the original Cliq, but not much. Still a slow processor. Still 1.5, though that’s supposed to improve shortly..

I have to ask: what’s the point of this phone? Compared to Android on other carriers it’s not better ENOUGH to be worth rolling out 6 months after the original Cliq. It was bad enough that right after the Cliq rolled on T-Mo the Droid came to Verizon. But that was 6 months ago. Why would T-Mo think the XT would be a hit for them now? There are much better Android devices wandering out there, just not for us. The XT just adds to the impression that Android on T-Mo is slow and behind the curve.

Moro77

So get this, I was just at a T-Mobile store to inquire why I was being charged 190$ for the Cliq XT. I was told that samrtphones are eligible for full discount only if you’ve had a data plan for the whole year prior. So because my previous phone was a basic one without a data plan (I’ve had it for 17 months), if I want to upgrade to a smartphone I do not get the full discount. Complete and utter BS…crap customer service.

sfolsom

Some reps are buffoons. I’ve had a data plan for 13 months now and still do not qualify for the full discount. The rep I talked to on the phone today told me I had to have it for 15 months before I could qualify, and we all know that’s crap since some people have had it for 17+ months and still do not qualify for some reason. In addition, when I told her that I didn’t even want this phone, but was concerned the same thing would happen when I go to buy the HD2 next week, she said, “wow, I don’t even know when we’re releasing that phone or how much it’s going to sell for, so I can’t give you that information”. Then I said, “it’s been posted on the T-Mobile twitter page” and she said “oh, I wouldn’t trust that, that could be anybody calling themselves T-Mobile” and I said, “look, I went to the T-Mobile website where it talks about the HD2 and clicked on the twitter link, so I know it’s you”. Then she was like “oh, ok”. She’s totally clueless.

I kinda get the feeling these reps will tell you whatever they have to, to justify what you see online.

JD

Well I haven’t called 611 yet, but I have had a data plan for the past 3 years. I am nearly 18 months into my contract, but the price still shows as $189.99 for me as well.

As many other are, I’m holding out for the HD2, but I thought this might make a good upgrade for another line. Unfortunately, none of the other lines on my plan have had any data plans. Contract 11 months in shows $259.99 and contract 20 months in shows $189.99.

Fred

Forget the $99 price tag. Just go to your local Walmart and score one for $48.88 on a 2 year contract. Upgrades included.

Mooch

I got to play around with one briefly today and while it’s not the super-mega-fancy high-end Android device, it’s still pretty solid. I was surprised at how it felt compared to the rest of the Android phones. It felt more solid and less plastic-ey. Not too keen on the 1.5 but like it’s stated above, I’m sure it’ll get the upgrade.

On a sidenote, I asked the sales rep about swipe as I couldn’t figure out how to get it to work. I asked, “Excuse me. I understand this phone comes with swipe but I can’t figure out how to get it to work.” He looks at me like I have four heads. “Sssswipe? What is swipe? Uhhh this phone came out today. I don’t know nothin ’bout it yet.” Knowing I was headed down a dead end street, I thanked him and tried to figure it out, unsuccessfully. Still though, for someone who is a die-hard physical keyboard enthusiast, I feel my loyalty beginning to sway in the opposite direction. This phone with a 2.1 upgrade, swipe & flash lite just may make it a pretty formidable device.

Jessica

I have three lines on my account. I have been out of contract since October and I show a $99 XT price. Another line is a year into their contract, and shows the $189 price. The final line was just renewed in a 2 year a few months ago, and shows a $259 price. I’m not excited enough about any of these phones to go for any of them. The HD2 is lovely hardware wise, but I’m loving Android currently and don’t want WinMo. Meh.

Jessica

Oh and I went in to play with phones the other day (they know who I am at one of my local stores ha) and a new rep had no idea what she was talking about. She was telling us that the Cliq will never be upgraded from 1.5, and that the HD2 is confirmed to be getting Win Phone 7. I’ve been researching new phones for nearly a year now, and the two of us who went in are IT students. She made comments like “I was on the internet for TWO WHOLE HOURS last night looking things up about the HD2 and I never once saw anything that said it wasn’t going to be upgraded.” Sigh. We didn’t bother arguing with her after that, it just wasn’t worth it.

DotNetCoderAZ

LMFAO!!! That’s great… I guess I should be thankful that the reps at my local store actually know what they are talking about. Yeah, they know me too, by name… I supposed I spend too much time in my TMO store? ;-)

Cliqxtwoohoo

Ok so I went to local tmo store and it didn’t have swype on it…. Could not figure how to get it on the xt and neither could my friend. Uqqqqhhhhh I so wanted to play with swype to see if I like it. And Also is tmo coming with a Cliq xt in white/titanium??????

Duck Dodgers

You just tap on the keyboard icon at the bottom of the screen and up pops a menu. There you select Swype and start using it. On an Android system you got to Settings>Language & Keyboard and select Swype as your keyboard.

Green Robot

I think this phone is “too little for too much”. I hope that TMO will eventually get an Android phone with fast processor and large screen someday. There is nothing even on the horizon at this point since HD2 has pretty much eclipsed everything on TMO.
P.S.: N1 does not apply so don’t bother mentioning it – cannot use my discount for it on family plan so it is irrelevant to me.

Cliqxtwoohoo

I did that with swype and it wouldn’t come on and I went thru the settings. and WHAT ABOUT THE CLIQ XT In White/titanium?????

tmobile maniac

its 189.99 for some people because they are not eligible for the FULL discount and they are upgrading their phone B4 their 2 yr contract is even close to finish.

Oce

I’m out of contract and myTmobile show $189.99 upgrade price. So there goes that theory.

Mark7

The Flash Light addition is still pretty useless on a Flash-heavy site. Like Tagged.com for instance. Couldn’t message anyone on there without a physical keyboard.

Mark7

They should’ve just added all these features to the original Cliq model and named it the Cliq 2.

john

Went to my local TMO store and played with the phone. In a land of large screens, fast processors and 2.x, not worth it at all in my opinion. This may be good for teens and someone really into social networking, but definitely not business centric at all. Although it’s one of the best I’ve seen in terms of battery (1420 mAh).

galatians51

I went in and upgraded both mine and my wife’s lines to the Cliq XT. It was $99 per phone, I was eligible for full upgrade- AND it was BOGO. I walked out with two Cliq XT’s for 99 bucks.
In my opinion, having had the Cliq, this phone is much smoother and faster. The connected media player is fantastic, and the regular keyboard is tons more accurate. Swype is a nice addition as well. Combine this with the 2.1 update in Q2 (I’m assuming this one will get it if the regular Cliq will), and this is a pretty solid mid tier offering for a really cheap price. I’m not forking out money I don’t have for a Nexus One or HD2 (even though they are beautiful phones), so I am a very happy camper with my Cliq XT purchases.

http://mtony75-2.blogspot.com mtony75

Best “Swype” alternative I’ve seen is Shape Writer http://www.shapewriter.com/ . Seen it work on both the G1 and the Cliq and will be my first download for the Cliq XT.

Seriously Sad

Hey people, wouldn’t it be great to research a phone before buying it? I think it sounds like a fabulous idea!

First you’ll want to go into your messages, after messages press and hold down on the text field…(the little box) you will get a menu that pops up saying “input method” then go ahead and select SWIPE.

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